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"Most people with ALS lose the use of their legs in the first two years of the disease. What would you do, while you still could?"

Our reason for being here, Roger Brightwell, has been gone for four years but is definitely not forgotten.

Roger's Racers Team is composed of Roger’s friends and family. Our friend, Roger, was husband to Monica Brightwell and father to Jesse and Ryan. Roger lived with ALS for 5 years from diagnosis - the longer end of the range for most. He did so much in those 5 years - travelling and spending time with family and raising awareness of ALS, including a trip to Ottawa to talk to MPs about government funding programs for family caregivers for people with terminal illnesses and how difficult it is with ALS to know when you’re within your last 6 months of life.

Jessie, Lachlan, and I will be walking/running Sunday, June 10, in the 22nd Annual Betty's Run for ALS in Calgary. We are trying to raise $500 together (I didn’t split the kids out separately) and we need your help.

You can donate to our page to support our team, Roger's Racers, so we can reach our goal to help other families affected by ALS and/or choose to participate along with us. Sixty per cent of funds raised remain in Alberta for client support services, including the Equipment Loan Program, home visits, information, referrals, support groups, and support for youth through the Support for Champions program. The remaining 40 per cent are invested into the most promising ALS research in Canada.

ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis) is a rapid, always fatal, neurodegenerative disease. It attacks the nerves of the body that would normally send messages from the brain to the muscle, resulting in weakness and wasting. Eventually, the individual with ALS is left completely immobilized, with loss of speech and an inability to swallow and breathe. There is no known cause or cure for this devastating disease.

ALS Facts:

• ALS can strike anyone, at any time, regardless of race, gender or age.

• The usual age of onset is 55-65, but people under 20 have been diagnosed.

• Approximately 2,500 - 3,000 Canadians currently live with ALS.

• In at least 90 per cent of cases, it strikes people with no family history of the disease.

• Eighty per cent of people with ALS die within five years of diagnosis.

• A person with ALS can require equipment and care valued at more than $240,000.

• The cause is unknown. There is no known cure or treatment that prolongs life significantly - yet..